The invention relates to a means for removing wires from waste paper bales. Such a means is known from DE-OS 37 07 966. This means provides for two knife beams with a plurality of teeth movable against each other in different directions as cutting device, which interact like the cutters on an electric shaver. The teeth of the knife are intended to be pressed into the waste paper bales in order then to grip the binding wires surrounding the waste paper bales by actuation of the knife beams. This is, however, a very difficult operation which is by no means 100% reliable. When the wires have been securely gripped, they are so accurately positioned by the knife-beam unit that they can get into the slot of a winding cylinder or into the intermediate space formed between two winding pins, if the winding unit is moved at right angles to the wires. For this purpose a very long winding-unit travel path is also necessary in order to grip all wires.
It is the object of the invention to simplify the winding operation and the gripping operation and make them more reliable.
Other different means with similar winding devices are known, but which are on the whole designed in a quite extensive and complicated way, which is why these means are very expensive without being able to guarantee adequate operational reliability and service life (running time) or reliability against susceptibility to repair.
Said problem is solved according to the invention by positioning the bale containing a plurality of peripheral baling wires on a support and a cutting knife is move vertically along the bale to cut or sever the wires. Located on the opposite side of the bale from the cutting knife is a pair of gripping knives, one of which is located at the upper end of the bale and the other at the lower end. After the wires are cut by the cutting knife, the gripping knives are moved in a direction toward each other to gather the cut wires at the central portion of the bale. A winding member is then moved downwardly from an upper storage position and engages the gathered wires. By rotating the winding member, the wires are wound around the winding member and the winding member is then elevated to remove the wound wires to a position where they can be discarded.